In commercial settings, engineering databases are available to engineers for analysis using a data analysis component related to the system. Measured values are typically stored in such a database by tagging them with a unique identifier known as a parameter. Each parameter has a name and number associated with it. The parameters describe data and conditions under which it was collected and also associate the data with the particular test equipment used.
The number of unique parameters measured for storage and analysis in a typical commercial laboratory database is in excess of 50,000. The number of stored measurements for these parameters exceeds fifty million. New parameter definitions are created at the rate of hundreds or thousands per week. Methods of defining and enforcing standards for these large numbers of parameters are absolutely essential in order to produce high quality analysis and transfer of meaningful information between engineering groups. The tools available in the prior art for defining and maintaining parameter definitions were insufficient for this challenge.
There is a need for a method for gathering, storing, and analyzing large amounts of engineering data in an organized fashion. This method should be usable at many sites and have flexible configuration options. Ideally, system configuration should consist of loading information into standard database tables. As a result the configuration should define the relationships between the system components as well as the behavior of individual system components.